NPA’s integrity head resigns

The NPA is set to charge suspended NPA integrity management unit head Prince Mokotedi.

Johannesburg - Suspended National Prosecuting Authority integrity management unit (IMU) head Prince Mokotedi has resigned, the NPA said on Thursday.

“I can confirm that we have served him with a formal charge sheet and he confirmed receipt of it, but he in turn gave us a hand-written resignation letter,” NPA spokesman Nathi Mncube told Sapa.

The resignation poses a dilemma for the NPA.

“We are going to consider it and make a determination to go ahead with disciplinary proceedings or accept it and leave it at that,” said Mncube.

In June, Mokotedi was suspended after a document on former prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach was leaked to the media. Mokotedi has denied leaking it.

A day before his suspension, The Star carried a report on the IMU document which recommended that Breytenbach be criminally charged for corruption, misconduct, conflict of interest, fraud, and racketeering.

In the unit's report, Breytenbach is accused of soliciting a loan of US1 million (about R11m) from businessman Nathan Kirsh, a complainant in two cases she was prosecuting.

Breytenbach is also accused of accepting a R6.3m donation from Kirsh through the FW de Klerk Foundation towards legal fees in her labour dispute with the NPA.

In April 2012, Breytenbach was suspended from the NPA and later faced a lengthy disciplinary hearing on 15 charges, which included failing to act impartially while investigating the Kumba Iron Ore Sishen and Imperial Crown Trading mining rights issue.

She was accused of “improper relations” with Sishen's lawyer Mike Hellens.

Breytenbach countered that this was related to her opposition to a decision to withdraw fraud and corruption charges against former police crime intelligence head Richard Mdluli.

In May last year, a NPA disciplinary hearing found her not guilty on all the charges and she was allowed to return to work, only to find she was to be transferred.

In the Labour Court, Breytenbach unsuccessfully applied to have her transfer overturned.